Benjamin f



@einen y tatta @attent @fitta IMPROVEMBN T IN SWINGS.

tite Srlgehiilr ninna tu iii tigen tttirrs ntsnt ma uniting pattini ila smits.

vTo ALL wHoM 1r MAY ooNcERN:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. SHAFFER, of Dayton, Montgomery county, Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Common Swing, by which the person swinging originates and keeps up the motion required, by pressure of the feet on apedal attached to the swing, producing a forward motion. Y

The nature of my invention consists in attaching to `any chair-swing or seat-swing, a pedal, to be moved by the .pressure of thc feet of the person who is swinging. The pedal is governed and acted 4upon by means of cords or ropes, which may be attached to rings in the'ceiling, or, if the swing is out of doors, to a beam, or the limb of a tree, or, as in the plate, to any frame m mm Z l', and the other ends of the cords to thc pedal. The cords or ropes workvon movable pulleys, which pulleys are attached to the ends of a har, which may form tho front edge of theseat ofthe swing, thus producing a forward movement ofthe swing by pressure ofthe feet on the pedal, while the person swinging is movin-g forward, and lightening the pressure as the swinger goes bach.

ATo enable others not skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its oonstruction and operation.

I make the seat of the swing in any convenient form gg. I attach this-seat to two strips of scantling, of

-the length equal to the height of the swing 7L L. These strips arc to be attached to hooks in the ceiling, or to any suitable frame m m m Z Z. They are hooked to thcframc at the points ZZ', so that the swing may move backward and forward freely. The seat is held in position by the bnr e e', which passes through the 4uprights h h', and also held by the arms n n', which are attached to t L by pins at o o. I attach the cords e c c 0] tothe ceiling, orto the framework at 7c k. The pullcysff are attached to thc ends of the bar 6 Zz, and turn freely forward and backward as the swing is moved. The cords from 7c c are passed down back ofthe pulleys `and under them in their grooves, and are drawn tight and attached tothe extremities ot' the bar on' which the pedal rests at b so that the pedal may be at a proper distance below the seat ofthe swing. The pedal is adjustable, end moves upon an axis, :n which is a bar passing through the strips L t. It'may be raised up, so that the bar a a a is against the bar e e', to permit a person to be seated in the swing, after which the pedal willfall back to its place.

VThe swingis putin motion, by the person who swings, in this manner: On takinghis scat the swing is plumb; he presses his feet on the pedal, and that produces a forward motion; as he rccedes, he lightens the pressure upon the pedal, and on again commencing to move forward, he again presses upon the pedal. In this manner the forward motion is kept up and increased. The cords or ropes are attachcdto the ceiling or frame at points -c Ic', a distance from eighteen inches to three feet in front of the hooks or rings Z l to which the strips h t are attached. The leverage is increased in proportion to the distance between the points c and l le Z. The pressure of the feet of` the person who is swinging, on the front edge of the pedal, tends to straighten the ropes or cords, so that on each ofthe pulleys thereare two levers, which force the swing forward, when the swinger presses his feet on the outer or front edge of the pedal, viz, levers bfandf/c, and bf andj" k.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is` v In combination with the seat gg of a swing, the hinged pedal, attached to thc swing, and the cords c e', fastened to the pedal and carried over pulleys on the swing-frame L L, and then fastened in front ofthe point of suspension of the swing, said several parts being respectivelyconstructed and arranged substantially as set forth.

- B. F. SHAFFER'.

Witnesses:

JonN HOWARD, C. L. VALLANDIGHAM. 

